Providers’ perspectives on the impact of culture in the recognition and diagnosis of anxiety

Objectives

We examined providers’ perspectives about how culture affects diagnosing and recognizing anxiety.

Methods

We interviewed providers about diagnosing anxiety (“How do you think culture impacts expression and diagnosis of anxiety?”) and used inductive analysis, with open coding, to allow themes to emerge organically.

Results

We identified three themes: (1) Impartiality toward Culture: downplaying culture in recognizing or diagnosing anxiety and not acknowledging necessary cultural diagnostic considerations; (2) Acknowledgment of Cultural Impact: detailed variations across different cultural communities in how patients present with and describe anxiety, with differing levels of stigma associated with expressing and treating anxiety; (3) Culturally Integrated Practice: implement culturally informed diagnosis and treatment, with training and self-directed processing on culture and bias.

Conclusions

While most providers acknowledge that culture impacts accurate diagnosis of anxiety, they vary in how they integrate cultural information. It is important to deliver culturally informed care.